Bensons' horses at Churchill for Derby; no decision on Mo Tom jockey

When Tom Benson, through his wife Gayle Benson’s GMB Racing, jumped back into the Thoroughbred game for the first time in decades, buying a handful of yearlings in 2014, it’s unlikely that even the rosiest plan envisioned coming up with two Kentucky Derby starters in 2016. But with a little more than a month until the Kentucky Derby, that’s the position in which the Bensons find themselves, with both Tom’s Ready, who was second in the Louisiana Derby, and Mo Tom, a vastly troubled fourth, now bedded down at Churchill Downs and ready to begin their final major Derby preparations.

Tom’s Ready, trained by Dallas Stewart, arrived first at Churchill and will commence training Friday. Mo Tom, trained by Tom Amoss, got in Wednesday and will begin galloping early next week, according to Greg Bensel, an adviser for the Bensons. The Bensons themselves, Bensel said, plan to travel from New Orleans to Louisville in the next two weeks to get a firsthand look at their Derby hopes.

But no one in the camp has made any decision about who will ride Mo Tom on the first Saturday in May.

Mo Tom endured his second straight terrible trip at Fair Grounds, finishing fourth in the Louisiana Derby, stopped badly in midstretch after being guided to the inside of a tiring Candy My Boy, who drifted in and hemmed Mo Tom in down along the rail. Mo Tom finished strongly once extricated, but unlike with his trouble in the Risen Star, when a rival jockey let his mount drift into Mo Tom’s path, perhaps costing him victory, trainer Tom Amoss immediately after the race laid the blame for the trouble at the feet of jockey Corey Lanerie.

Amoss later apologized for his angry public outburst. Bensel said it hasn't been determined if Lanerie will ride Mo Tom in the Kentucky Derby.

“We have the utmost respect for [Lanerie] and have told him that, but as far as who is riding Mo Tom in the Kentucky Derby, there are way too many moving parts right now,” Bensel said. “Corey will be considered – he has won for us – but we will also consider all of our options, and Tom and I will discuss those as we move along.”

Tom’s Ready, with 44 points, is ninth in the Kentucky Derby qualifying points standings that will determine the Derby’s 20-horse field, provided the connections of 20 3-year-olds want to run, which in the modern era is taken as a matter of course. Mo Tom, widely considered the stronger Derby prospect of the two, has 32 qualifying points after his hard-luck winter in New Orleans and ranks 11th in the standings.